1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a plate-making sheet for being printed with stamp characters to be engraved on the stamping face of a stamp, in parallel with a process for making the stamp, mainly for permitting checking of the stamp characters and for indication of the stamp characters on the back surface of the stamp, and a printing device for printing the stamp characters on the plate-making sheet.
2. Prior Art
Conventionally, a stamp making apparatus has been proposed e.g. by Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 6-278350, which makes a stamp from a stamp body having a stamping surface formed of an ultraviolet curing resin. This apparatus uses an ink ribbon as an exposure mask, and a printing paper ribbon which corresponds to the above-mentioned plate-making sheet. The two ribbons, placed one upon the other, are in the form of a roll wound about a supply reel. The stamp making apparatus has a printing block including a print head and a platen roller. The ink ribbon and the printing paper ribbon are rolled out from the supply reel by the platen roller and guided to the print head which prints stamp characters simultaneously on the ink ribbon and the printing paper ribbon (by transfer of ink). Thereafter, the ink ribbon is advanced to an exposure device facing the stamp body set in the apparatus, while the printing paper ribbon is discharged from a take-out slot of the apparatus. A stamp character label is peeled off the printing paper ribbon and cut or trimmed properly. Then, the label is affixed to the back surface of the stamp body processed by exposure to ultraviolet rays.
In the case of such a conventional stamp making apparatus, an image of stamp characters is transferred from the ink ribbon to the printing paper ribbon, and hence an image of the stamp characters (engraved on the stamping face) of a stamp made by using the exposure mask of the ink ribbon, and an image of the stamp characters printed on the printing paper ribbon become identical to each other. On the other hand, in an image of an imprint of the stamp characters formed by using the stamp, images of individual characters are slightly bolder than those of the characters engraved on the stamping face of the stamp. That is, the images of the characters engraved on the stamping face are identical in boldness or thickness with those of the characters imprinted on the label affixed to the back surface of the stamp, but different from the images of the stamp characters imprinted by using the stamp. Particularly, to make a stamp limited in character width or a small-sized stamp, it is required to engrave or form characters on the stamping face in an even thinner typeface by taking into account defacing or broadening of images of stamp character imprinted by using the stamp. In such a case, the characters printed on the label affixed to the back surface of the stamp become very thin and difficult to read. Further, an imprint of stamp characters formed by using the stamp gives the viewer an impression different from one received from the printed stamp characters on the label affixed to the back surface of the stamp.
It is a first object of the invention to provide a plate-making sheet that eliminates the inconvenience that characters indicated on the back surface of a stamp are difficult to read, and at the same time prevents an image of the characters imprinted by using the stamp and an image of the printed characters indicated on the back surface of the stamp from becoming different in boldness to cause a sense of disagreement between them.
It is a second object of the invention to provide a printing device that is capable of accurately printing stamp characters at proper positions on the plate-making sheet that eliminates the inconvenience that characters indicated on the back surface of a stamp are difficult to read, and at the same time prevents an image of the characters imprinted by using the stamp and an image of the printed characters indicated on the back surface of the stamp from becoming different in boldness to cause a sense of disagreement between them.
To attain the first object, according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a plate-making sheet in the form of a strip for being printed with stamp characters to be engraved on a stamping face of a stamp, in parallel with a process for making the stamp, for permitting checking of the stamp characters and for indication of the stamp characters on a back surface of the stamp,
the plate-making sheet comprising:
a backing sheet, and
an adhesive sheet laminated on the backing sheet and having a surface to be printed with the stamp characters,
wherein the surface of the adhesive sheet is formed with a character check area to be printed with the stamp characters for permitting the checking of the stamp characters, and at least one indication character area to be printed with the stamp characters for the indication of the stamp characters.
According to this plate-making sheet, the character check area to be printed with the stamp characters for permitting the checking thereof and the at least one indication character area to be printed with the stamp characters for the indication thereof are provided on the sheet. Therefore, an image of the stamp characters printed on the character check area can be used for checking on the stamp characters to be engraved on the stamping face of a stamp to confirm that there is no error in the stamp characters, for instance, while the stamp characters printed on the at least one indication character area can be used for indicating the stamp characters as a faithful reproduction of an imprint of the stamp or as an image of the stamp characters formed with preference to legibility, on the back surface of the stamp. Further, if a plurality of indication character areas are provided to print thereon images of stamp characters different in boldness, the user can select a desirable one from the images of the stamp characters which can be indicated on the back surface of the stamp, as he desires. Furthermore, the plate-making sheet is in the form of a strip which is constituted by a backing sheet, and an adhesive sheet. laminated on the backing sheet and having a surface to be printed with the stamp characters, which makes the plate-making sheet easy to handle. By cutting out an indication character area of the adhesive sheet it can be easily affixed to the back surface of the stamp. It should be noted that throughout the specification, the term xe2x80x9cstamp characterxe2x80x9d is used to denote any letter as well as any symbol, figure or the like which can be employed in a stamp i.e. engraved on the stamping face of the stamp.
Preferably, each of the at least one indication character area is formed to have a shape corresponding to a shape of the back surface of the stamp.
According to this preferred embodiment, it is possible to form a label corresponding to the shape of the back surface of a stamp simply by cutting out the printed indication character area.
Preferably, the each of the at least one indication character area is formed such that the each of the at least one indication character area can be peeled off the backing sheet along a cutting line formed in the adhesive sheet.
According to this preferred embodiment, by peeling only the printed indication character area off the backing sheet along the cutting line formed in the adhesive sheet, a label affixable to the back surface of the stamp can be easily obtained without cutting the sheet.
Preferably, the character check area is arranged at a longitudinally central location of the plate-making sheet.
According to this preferred embodiment, it becomes possible to print stamp characters on the character check area without considering a forward end side or a rearward end side of the plate-making sheet.
Preferably, the at least one indication character area comprises a plurality of indication character areas, and the plurality of indication character areas are arranged at respective diametrically centrosymmetric locations with respect to a center of the plate-making sheet.
According to this preferred embodiment, it becomes possible to print stamp characters in any of the plurality of indication character areas without considering a forward end side or a rearward end side of the plate-making sheet. In this case, however, it is not necessarily required to print stamp characters on the indication character areas on both of the opposite sides of the center of the plate-making sheet.
Preferably, a detecting hole cooperative with a sensor is formed at a location spaced from a longitudinal end of the plate-making sheet and lying outside the character check area and the at least one indication character area.
According to this preferred embodiment, the longitudinal end of the plate-making sheet and the detecting hole are detected by the sensor, whereby the printing device for carrying out the printing while feeding the plate-making sheet can detect the presence of the sheet through detection of the longitudinal end of the sheet, and then detect a print-starting position on the sheet through detection of the detecting hole.
Preferably, the location of the detecting hole is closer to a longer side of the plate-making sheet.
According to this preferred embodiment, the sensor detects the presence or absence of the detecting hole, to thereby simultaneously discriminate whether or not the plate-making sheet is mounted with the front surface thereof, i.e. the adhesive sheet side thereof, facing in a proper direction. Hence, it is possible to prevent printing from being carried out on the backing sheet.
Preferably, the detecting hole comprises a pair of through holes, the pair of through holes being arranged at respective diametrically centrosymmetric locations with respect to a center of the plate-making sheet.
According to this preferred embodiment, when the plate-making sheet is fed for printing, it is possible to discriminate whether or not the front surface of the sheet is facing in a proper direction, irrespective of the direction of feeding of the plate-making sheet, that is, without need for being conscious of a forward end side or rearward end side of the plate-making sheet for feeding the same.
To attain the first object, according to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a plate-making sheet for being printed with stamp characters to be engraved on a stamping face of a stamp, in parallel with a process for making the stamp, for permitting checking of the stamp characters and for indication of the stamp characters on a back surface of the stamp,
the plate-making sheet comprising a printing surface formed with a character check area to be printed with the stamp characters for permitting the checking of the stamp characters, and at least one indication character area to be printed with the stamp characters for the indication of the stamp characters.
According to this plate-making sheet, the character check area to be printed with stamp characters for permitting the checking thereof and the at least one indication character area to be printed with the stamp characters for the indication thereof are provided on the sheet. Therefore, an image of the stamp characters printed on the character check area can be used for checking on the stamp characters to be engraved on the stamping face of a stamp to confirm that there is no error in the stamp characters, for instance, while the stamp characters printed on the at least one indication character area can be used for indicating the stamp characters as a faithful reproduction of an imprint of the stamp or as an image of the stamp characters formed with preference to legibility, on the back surface of the stamp.
Preferably, each of the at least one indication character area is defined and indicated as an area having a shape corresponding to a shape of the back surface of the stamp.
According to this preferred embodiment, it is possible to form a label corresponding to the shape of the back surface of the stamp simply by cutting out the printed indication character area along a line defining and indicating the area.
To attain the second object, according to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a printing device for printing on a plate-making sheet for use in making a stamp, the plate-making sheet being formed with a character check area to be printed with stamp characters for permitting checking of the stamp characters, and at least one indication character area to be printed with the stamp characters for indication of the stamp characters, the printing device comprising:
a printing mechanism for printing the stamp characters on the character check area and the at least one indication character area;
a feeding mechanism for feeding the plate-making sheet to the printing mechanism; and
a sensor for detecting feed of the plate-making sheet to the printing mechanism.
According to this printing device, the feeding mechanism is controlled according to results of detection by the sensor, whereby the stamping characters can be accurately printed at a desired location on the plate-making sheet, that is, on a label portion.
Preferably, the printing mechanism simultaneously carries out printing on the character check area and printing on a mask for use in making the stamp.
According to this preferred embodiment, stamp characters to be engraved on the stamping face of the stamp and an image of stamp characters for checking on the stamp characters can be printed in quite the same size and typeface.
Preferably, an image of the stamp characters printed on the character check area is identical in typeface with but different in boldness from an image of the stamp characters printed on the at least one indication character area.
According to this preferred embodiment, stamp characters affixed to (indicated on) the back surface of the stamp can be printed as a faithful reproduction of an imprint of the stamp characters of the stamp or as an image of the stamp characters formed with preference to legibility.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.